Notting Hill Office (London, UK)

Overview

The renovation of a three-story building in the heart of the trendy Notting Hill neighborhood in London required more than just standard upgrades. The unusual open layout of the structure meant adding new heating and air conditioning systems that would preserve the design and accommodate both high and low ceilings, while providing better efficiency than the old system did.

To find heating and cooling solutions for the building on Talbot Road, architect Iain Pattie of Halehold, Ltd., consulted The Quantum Group. The challenges were plentiful. The building required heating and air conditioning throughout to replace the inefficient condensing units, which were running on obsolete R22 refrigerant and an inefficient non-condensing boiler. The contractor had to take into account the existing design, high solar gain in summer and heat loss in winter.

Strategy

A traditional heating and cooling system was installed in the open plan areas. But what should be done about the ground floor and basement? The new tenants wanted to use these areas for office space, but with limited headroom it would be a challenge to heat and cool these areas using a traditional system with bulky, intrusive ductwork.

“The ground floor office area underneath the mezzanine level and the office/relaxations area in the basement definitely posed special challenges,” said Rinus Groenewald, Technical Sales Manager at Quantum. He recommended the Unico System, a small-duct heating and cooling system.

“We chose the Unico System over standard ducted units because of the reduced ceiling height in both areas,” Groenewald said. “Also, the areas to be served were fairly large, so using wall-mounted units would have been impractical; we would have needed loads of smaller local units.” Noise was also a consideration for this office space.

“The Unico System operates quietly, and we added the Climaver Neto acoustically lined duct to reduce sound even more. It’s a big difference compared to conventional air conditioning systems.”

Results

Two Unico System air handlers were installed – one in the basement and one on the ground floor. Discreet, linear slotted outlets from Unico deliver heating or cooling, quietly and efficiently.

Tenants have moved into the office and are reaping the benefits of Unico’s quiet, unobtrusive cooling and heating systems.

“The contractor loves the Unico product and has used it on a number of projects,” Groenewald said. “Unico’s heating and cooling solutions have been available in the U.K. for 15 years and we continue to be impressed with the performance and reliability of their products.”